You want to look for companies with good, long track records. Find out how long the company has been in business. Many of these companies offer user forums which is a great sign because people do not hesitate to post if they have had a bad experience.
Usually, the company will provide you with detailed information about the survey (the topic, number of questions, payment, and the criteria to qualify, etc.) Really good companies will also list how long the job will typically take. Of course, knowing which jobs are best will take time, but even when you are just starting out, it's easy to do a quick comparison to determine how much you're being paid per minute / hour. Obviously, you want to pick the job that pays the most for the shortest time period, so that you can move on to the next survey as quickly as possible. To really make decent money at home doing surveys, you need to maximize your time so that you can complete as many as possible.
How much money you make or earn doing surveys will depend greatly on how much time you put into and how well you are able to perfect your technique (this just takes time and practice), but if you put a dedicated amount of effort in, there's no reason you can't make $800 - $1500 per month out of gate, and more once you get a bit of experience and age. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SURVEY CLUB Get paid each time you take part in a paid research study. They can put money into your paypal account or cut you a check.